Thursday, August 25, 2011

Classic & vintage caravans.

We've been on the road for a while now. We've travelled a long way and we've met a lot of people. People from all over the world and all over Australia. People who are doing this trip for a gazillion different reasons and a gazillion different ways.

What interests me are the interactions with people that go further than 'yep we're from Daylesford in Victoria and we are heading down the west coast'. The interactions that stop you for a while, that have you sharing information with each other and that sometimes even develop into friendship.

Some of these on the road friendships we've made have been with families with kids. That's an obvious one. They have kids, we have kids, our kids play together and so we hang out together. We've met some great people this way.

Some people we hang out with because their caravans are parked next to ours. Some because we keep bumping into them along the way. And some because they and we tow old caravans.

We love old vans. We scout them out, we 'ooh and ahhh', we photograph them, we knock on their doors and we chat to their owners.

Caravan parks are bursting full of shiny new Jaycos. We who tow 30+ year old caravans are definitely in the minority.

People who tow older vans are often interested in other older vans. We swap details, we give tours, we describe the hunt, the purchase and the fixing up process.

We've met some amazing people this way.

We met the owners of this cute 50's car and caravan in Katherine and kept bumping into them for a while. They spent two years working on their combo before hitting the road. Everywhere we've seen them they have been followed by people with cameras. Every time we have spent time with them they have been happy to answer questions and give out information. They even offer to get out of people's way when they are taking photos. They said they are totally surprised by the attention they are getting.

The inside is not much bigger than a cubby house. Its divine. I totally had to hold myself back from squealing as they were showing us around.

And they said they loved our van too. They said we should join the classic caravan club.

I think when a lot of people see us pull up they don't get it. They don't understand that we'd much rather be pulling our lovely old girl than a shiny, no-character new caravan. That we hunted for ages until we found our 1980 Viscount Bunker van. That if we won a million bucks in Tats, we'd probably buy an even older van and put it on a new chassis. Its who we are, it's what we like.

118 comments:

Oh dear, you're calling the caravans I grew up with and in old ... not sure how I feel about that! The 50's car and van are delightful although I can't imagine what a car with no air con would be like driving across the top end.

Those new vans have no character whatsoever! I saw that FJ station wagon and van on the road here a couple of weeks back and squealed in delight! Would have loved to have a good look!...Enjoy the west coast ( best part of Australia! ) x

I love the old caravans and campervans too. And when folk take the trouble to make them into a proper homes on wheels as you have done they're just perfect. So much character. We're trying to work out how we'd live on the road with 5 whippets and what kind of van we'd need. The hunt is on!

Cant believe what Melissa just said, that she saw the same people? And the inside toilet query from Trudi...never thought of that one.Wondering how you really are and what you think about on those long drives. I know that the best conversations with your loved ones happen then, x

Totally agree with you about the old van love. New vans appear to have no soul, they do not inspire choosing a name for the van either. Your van is lovely, I also loved that little red and white one you opened the post with.

Lovely vintage caravans Kate, different to British ones but just as special.I would love one too but Mr BM just thinks they will be damp and give him lots of trouble. I think he is wrong and would love an older van I could pretty up . Have you seen "Mable" over at "are we nearly there yet ?" Divine :0)Love all the personal touches you added to yours and you are very lucky Bren is a vintage convert too.Jacquie x

Vintage vans are fantastic, so much more homely than the new shiny models.

As far as toilets in vans go,,,,yuck! I would much rather be a litte inconvenienced through having to walk to the amenities block than have to clean out those darn caravan loos lol.Hubby and I had a campervan when we went to NZ a couple of years ago and we had a loo in our van. Used it once emptied it once, that was it, hated it,,,,people probably thought we were odd that we went to the amenities block to shower and toilet when we had one obviously in our van but we didn't care lol.Happy travels,,,,where are you guys now?

the new ones are so hideous- all that horrific wallpaper and ugly shiny plastic wood and dusty pink colours- disgusting. the old ones are so much better... we talk abotu it too... doing one up as a spare room here... we have an old one that we use for storage- not even close to roadworthyness but we endlessly discuss- do up an old caravan or get a teepee.....

Oh, I think I just saw the caravan I holidayed in as a child... the one with the yellow stripes. I'm with you Kate, the old vans have oodles of character, and for many of us so many fond memories.Happy travels to you.xo

Our daughter in Oz referred us to this wonderful posting on classic caravans.We are in the UK and have caravanned for some 25 years. Started with a little old van and worked our way up eventually owning 4 new vans in succession.Decided we had had more fun with our earlier vans, sold the last new van and are now very happy with our 1993 ABI Marauder 400D - lots more character and always something needs attention!Thanks for this post.

Hi Kate..my brother is always telling me about the great camaraderie that is in caravanning and he absolutely loves a good movie night or music night when parked! At present though his van is parked in our back yard..we're babysitting!

Have been following your adventures! Sent a link to my Pa in the Uk about this particular post of yours. He really appreciates old 'vans. I see he has left you a comment (Avus). He sent me an email to say he has sent a link to this post to the magazine 'caravan club uk'. I hope you hear from them!!!!

Good luck with your travels.from herhimnbryn in the Hills outside Perth WA.

Oh Kate, my heart skips a beat every time I see an old van.. we have one almost the same as your first picture and love it.. We also have a HG Holden to match.. Now all we need is to get a farm sitter and go!!!! Happy Holidays and thankyou for this post, I loved it...

This post has made my heart sing! I am absolutely in love with old rather than new - my wee Fiat 500 is older than me!!! Your caravan is fabulous and all the other beauties you've met on your travels are just delightful. I especially love that adorable, tiny 50s one. Now if I could only win Lotto - that's what I'd buy! Hope you and your family are having an amazing week. Leah x

We found the same with meeting people on the road. Kids mummas and papas are the easiest to hang out with but a close second was all the grey nomads that accosted us when we went to a caravan park because "they used to have a van like ours". The only difference was they told stories of the many many children they used to house in such a van as ours. Unfortunately most of the grey nomads had "those white monstrosities" nowadays and seemed to crave the personality of our old van. Quite often they would be there as we were pulling to help us set up...just for the thrill of touching an old van again??Mxo

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